SoCon all-tournament teams

First Team

Stephen McDowell, UTC (MVP)

Tony White Jr., College of Charleston

Stephen Curry, Davidson

Kevin Goffney, UTC

Bryan Friday, Samford

 

Second Team

Nicchaeus Doaks, UTC

Dustin Scott, College of Charleston

Donald Sims, Appalachian State

Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston

Jeremy Simmons, College of Charleston

If you are wondering why there are so many prematurely gray-haired gents in the crowd...

(Game-time coverage) It's because the Cougars have just let UT-Chattanooga back in the game. Here is a picture of Andrew Goudelock at the line. Jermaine is having a "Shaq" night from the Charity-Stripe, but everyone else, especially TW-Jr. is taking advantage of the opportunities.

The officials are a nightmare. That's right, I said it. The three-amigos are killing me, I am not sure if they just don't know what a "walk" looks like unless the offender has a white-jersey on, but the zebras are definitely keeping the Moccassins in the game-good bye 10 point lead, hello down to the wire. (For the record: the dark haired guy next to me just had around 50 gray hairs pop-out.

Cougs Lose to Davidson Eyes Wide-Shut!

Playing "D" like this and shooting like this (20 of 59 (33.9%) from the field, 14 of 35 from the paint and 3 of 17 from behind the arc) doesn't win basketball games. I hate to point out Jeremy and Jermaine here because the loss to Davidson was a team effort, but guys, and this is just a suggestion, if you keep your eyes open while shooting and going up strong to the basket, I guarantee an improvement in performance. (Photo courtesy of the Charleston Post & Courier/Mic Smith)

To end on a good note: Andrew Goudelock led the College of Charleston Cougars with 13 points and Jermaine Johnson finished with 11 points and 11 boards for another double-double. And finally, the Wildcats' scoring sensation, Stephen Curry who averages 24.3 ppg was held (mainly by Antwaine Wiggins) to 16 points.

Cougs beat Wofford by 10

Jermaine Johnson scored 17 points, grabbed 12 boards and hit all of his 4 opportunities from the charity stripe in the final minute of the game to lead the Cougars to another SoCon win over Wofford 70-60. The Cougars improved to 9-8, 4-3 by out-shooting 52.9% (27 of 51) to Wofford's 38% from the field and controlling the boards, out-rebounding the Terriers 37-23.

From the Den:
Andrew Goudelock scored 16 points, Dustin Scott put up 9 points and freshman Antwaine Wiggins added the power of "ten" in his double-double in tonight's victory.

A Thrilling Win For The Cougs Against Western Carolina!

The College of Charleston Cougars won their third straight game this season and their ninth straight game over the Western Carolina Catamounts on Saturday, improving to 4-3. The Cougars will head to Chattanooga for their next game on Saturday, December 15th.

Jermaine Johnson earned SoCon Honors, as Player of the Week, with his career-high 26 points, and tying his career best 14 rebounds. Jermaine was excellent from the charity-stripe hitting 7 of 8, and cool as a Kennedy in the last 5-minutes of the game, putting 8 points on the board and grabbing 4 rebounds to secure a Cougar win! Andrew Goudelock added 25 points with a career-high 15 assists. Antwaine Wiggins and Jeremy Simmons both had 11-points as the Cougars brought home their first SoCon win of the season.

The key to the Cougs' win here is more than just the BMOC (Johnson) but also the depth of the College's bench: the Cougs bench outscored the Catamounts 34-4. The College shot 55.2% from the field in the first, but only 40% in the second half allowing Western Carolina to get back into the game, as they outscored the Cougs in the second-half 52-46. The Cougs still need to work on their shots from behind the arc, but they definitely have improved dramatically (since last season) from the charity-stripe.

Teams-1st---2nd--Total
CofC---40---46---86
WCU---32---52---84

Cougs Win Over Charleston Southern! Improve to 3-3 for the season!

The Cougs found their groove last night in the second half at North Charleston Coliseum, despite letting the Buccaneers hang around all night, winning 79 to 70. This victory in Coach Cremins 800th career game boosted his all-time record to 479-321 over a span of 17-seasons. And the Cougs improved to 3-3 for the season. CSU fell to 3-3 as they loss to their longest standing rival spanning the past 42 years. The College leads this rivalry 46-22 all-time.

Click here for Post & Courier article

The Cougars controlled the pace of the game and did a superb job of keeping the Bucs forward Chris Moore contained as well as their BMOC Knysas (Did he pronounce that “nice ass”-any Lithuanians out there who want to give a help with pronouncing this kids’ name?) But as you know the old adage about closing one window, another "Ja-Marco…Ja-Polo" opens, JaMarco-Ja-Polo Warren led the Bucs with 21.

From the Den

The Cougs did a great job of moving the ball and opening up lanes to take it to the hoop; as a result Jermaine Johnson had his first double-double, grabbing 10 boards while putting 21 points (8-11 FG/5-10 FT) just shy of his career-high. Tony White Jr. was consistent and scrappy last night putting 17 points (5-10 FG/3-4 FT) on the board, hitting 4-6 from behind the arc. Dustin Scott added another 10-points (4-6 FG/1-2 FT/1-3 3FG). Antwaine Wiggins and Marcus Hammond combined for 10-points.

Bench production:
Goudelock (as seen in this Tyrone Walker picture courtesy of the P&C) with two steals and a few other attempts (we like this kid’s effort) joined Jeremy Simmons with 9-points, Diarra came in for a few minutes to shake things up and Donovan Monroe hit one of four three-ball attempts. Not bad bench production and the team seemed pretty fluid during the interchange.

Scoreboard---Record---1st---2nd---Final
Chas Southern (3-4)---29---41---70
The Bucs shot 36.4% (28-77) from the field, 87.5% (7-8) from the charity stripe and 26.9% (7-26) from behind the arc.
College of Charleston (3-3)---26---53---79
The Cougs shot 47% (31-66) from the field, 43.5% from the charity stripe and 23.3% from behind the arc.

Cougs win on the road at Fordham, 73-68

Quite honestly, there was a bit of confusion in regards to who was whom when it came to the Fordham and College of Charleston fans last December at John Kresse Arena; maroon and white are both school’s colors and the universal-collegiate-gray t-shirt was quite prevalent at the game. To much surprise Fordham had quite a large fan base here in Charleston, and with the student section off for the Christmas break, I almost felt outnumbered at our own place. The Cougs battled to beat Fordham by 10 (65-56) last season and I was a bit worried things might be more hostile this time in New York.

Despite getting off to a rough start this season, both teams and schools are quite similar in size, reputation and record. The only difference this season was that the Cougs haven’t been home all season and with another road trip to a hostile environment, things didn’t look promising.

Stop Spreading the News…
I’ll be the first to apologize for not making the trip to NYC, but as it is I am allergic to the Bronx. And what can I say? Not many Southerners decide to retire and live in NYC (my justification for the high turnout of Rams fans at Kresse last season).

I did catch the game on ESPN radio as Blackie and I headed to Charlotte on Saturday and despite the wonderful, half-fuzzed AM broadcast, I was quite concerned to hear Jeremy Simmons take a knee to the back of the head, but glad to hear that he was fine, just sitting out as a precaution. The Cougs had the lead at the half by 10-points (34-24) and despite a well executed effort at the end of the game, the Cougs held on to win by 5, with a final score of 68-58.
From the Den
Despite coming off the bench, Donavan Monroe led the Cougs with 15-points, Tony White Jr. and Goudelock both scored 12. Jermaine was in foul trouble early, but who said that was a bad thing? As long as they are smart fouls that help establish your dominance in the paint and not just lazy-lapses of judgment, the CofC Sports Fan says, “Foul On Brother”! Slipping into his spot was the “Rally from Mali” (West Africa), 6’10”, 235 lb center, Konimba Diarra who played for twelve minutes, hitting 2-4 (50 %) for 4 points in his first chance at double-digit minutes of playing time. (You know this kid is a senior and I am finally thinking that if he wants to make an impact on this Cougar team, this is the season to do it. So Konimba get tough in there and show us what you got!)

The Rams outscored us in the second half, 44-39, but the Cougs held on, played smart and won by (everyone get ready for this) hitting 7 of 8 free-throws in the final seconds of the game. The Cougs shot 51% (25-49) from the field and 73% (16-22) from the Charity-Stripe.

Press Play
The Cougars are now 2-3 on the season, tied with the Citadel for 4th in the SoCon (Southern Division) and our next game will be against Chas Southern this Wednesday. The Citadel plays Chas. Southern on Monday, so it would appear this will be one of those battles for Holy City bragging rights again this year! Go Cougs!

The Cougs Drop their Season Opener on the road @ UNCW in Over-time

The Cougars dropped their season opener to UNCW in OT. Obviously we didn’t get the outcome the Maroon Nation was looking for, but we did learn a few things from this road game; mainly, that this is a talented team and they are scrappy. (Photo courtesy of CofC Sports)

From the Den
Scoring the most points for a CofC freshman since Rod Conner dropped 29 points against South Carolina State back in 1993, freshman guard, Andrew Goudelock led the Cougs with 27 points. Jermaine Johnson put 19 points on the board and pulled down 9 boards. Charleston’s other “BMOC”, recent transfer; Dustin Scott scored 12-points (5-10) and had 6-boards for his first game as a Cougar. Tony White, Jr. was 6 for 13 with 15 points.

The Cougars shot 50% (15-30) from the field in the first and went into half-time tied with UNC-Wilmington at 36. The Cougs dropped in scoring percentage from the field to 45.9% (17-37) in the second half, but increased in percentage from behind the arc, hitting 36.4% (4-11) but the Seahawks’ Daniel Fountain with 27 points) and Vladimir Kuljanin who scored 25 points were able to hold of the Charleston attack to win 98-91.

The Cougars’ next game is against Arkansas in the San Juan Shootout November 15th.

App State-itis??? Or Michiganitis, Cougs lose in exhibition game against Augusta State

As we all know the biggest shocker of this football season was App State (a powerhouse in their Division winning back-to-back National Championships) defeating Michigan at the “Big House”. Now that the shock is over and the Wolverines are back in action, I’d be hard pressed to think the Mountaineers could return to Ann Arbor and beat Michigan, but as the football season progressed we’ve learned one thing-no one is safe.

So it seems the “Michiganitis” plagued the Cougars in their exhibition game against Division II powerhouse Augusta State, losing 65-63. Not only do the two “upsetters” have the same initials (ASU) but the favored teams had similar heartbreaks at the end of the game as the Cougars watched Jaguars’ Ben Madgen dropped a trey with 7.3 left on the clock, but the Maroon Nation would be hard pressed to think they (Augusta State) could come into the house Kresse built later on this season and walk away with a victory.

The Cougars led 32-28 at the half, but ASU showed the Cougars what we need to work on before the regular season begins next Saturday, mainly stopping a big man (i.e. Jaguars’ 6-11, 305 lb. center Garret Siler who scored 24 points) in the paint. Tony White, Jr. led the Cougars with 18-points (15 in the 1st half).

But remember, this is an exhibition game and thankfully it doesn’t count. Augusta State returned all five of their starters and they are a good basketball team. And although we have Coach Cremins at the helm, he doesn’t have a magic wand. It takes time for even the most talented players to develop and reach their full potential.

We returned two starters (Jermaine Johnson and Tony White, Jr.) from last season. It would seem only natural that most of our scoring in this exhibition game came from the perimeter, when we scouted our new talent (freshman-guard Andrew Goudelock who scored 17 and freshman-shooting forward Antwaine Wiggins who scored 13) we knew they would be a threat from behind the arc. And with the addition of Dustin Scott this season, Jermaine will have some added muscle in the paint; we just need these guys to get mean and in sync-which will come.

Link to Charles Bennett’s article in the Post & Courier

The Cougars begin their season at UNC Wilmington, 7 pm, on November 10th! Go Cougs!

Cougars sign Andrew Goudelock

Head Coach of the College of Charleston, Bobby Cremins signed Andrew Goudelock, a 6-foot-1, 165-lb. combination shooting and point-guard averaging 25-ppg in the regular season and 42-ppg in the R6-4A Tourney for Stone Mountain (Georgia) High School and leading Dekalb County in scoring, last weekend.

In the Regional 6A-AAAA Tournament at Miller Grove, Goudelock shot lights-out, scoring 12-points, 5 baskets from behind the arc, against St. Pius X, leading the Pirates to a 72-42 victory in the opening round of the Region 6-AAAA Tournament. Although Stone Mountain High lost to Tucker 78-79; Goudelock scored 39-points (then a career-high), in their final game before the region tourney, the Pirates shook off whatever jitters they had and took a No. 3 seed in sub-region A. The Pirates would win both of their regional games in the R6-4A Tourney with Goudelock “the Stone Mountain Sharpshooter” besting every player in the Dekalb County network in the post-season. On February 9^th, Goudelock raised the bar on his career-stats, scoring a new career-high of 47-points, in the 92--68 win over Lakeside, but the second round of the Region 6-4A tournament would prove a more modest score for the Pirates and Lakeside rematch; the Pirates won 73-41 and positioned the Pirates to clean-up as they moved forward in the State Tournament. Last Friday, Stone Mountain lost to the defending 2006, 6A-AAAA Champs, the Columbia Eagles 63-67 in the semi-finals of the Tournament. The Pirates did win the 3^rd Place game of the Tournament against Mays the following day, winning 70-51.

Goudelock’s scoring in the State Tournament:

February 13^th, Stone Mountain against St. Pius X, Pirates won 72-42. Goudelock scored 22-points

February 15^th, Stone Mountain against Lakeside, Pirates won 73-41. Goudelock scored 12-points

February 16^th, Stone Mountain against Columbia, Pirates lost 63-67. Goudelock scored 17-points

February 17^th, Stone Mountain against Mays, Pirates won 70-51. Goudelock scored 23-points

Goudelock is a superb and competitive offensive player. He has quick feet and pulls the trigger on his shots even faster. A special note for those of you unfamiliar with Stone Mountain basketball is that Goudelock is accomplishing all of these accolades on the Court while sharing the hoop with All-Tournament Player Ray Brown and Virginia Tech recruit Terrell Bell. But, this isn’t the T. Bell show; we are talking about Andrew Goudelock and besides, he is a more rounded player than Bell. Look for Andrew to develop more on the defensive side of the ball after coming to the College of Charleston, as Cremins will help transfer the speed Andrew has on offense to defense as well, producing a more balanced and competitive player-possibly moving to the next level after his stint at the College. Andrew’s AAU Team is the Atlanta Celtics. Goudelock chose the College because of Cremins’ system of play. We look forward to seeing Andrew next year to help us fill the void that Dontaye will be leaving behind.